Oddworld: New ’n’ Tasty

My brother and I played Abe's Oddysee and Abe's Exoddus a lot. When the game got released, I bought it again. I don't have a gaming PC so I got New 'n' Tasty on PS4 but I have to say: this game still provides the same difficult puzzles, laugh out loud humour, and amazing visuals that as a kid I already recognised as gorgeous and unique. If you have fond memories of this game series, I recommend reliving Abe's adventures. Try to get the good ending this time (I never got it when I was younger). Remember why those Scrabs and Paramites scared you as those years ago. Oddworld Inhabitants carved out amazing puzzles that feature the wildlife. Coming back to this 15+ years later, I'm astounded by the workings of this game. I appreciate the game in a whole new way now. If you have never played Abe's Oddysee before, I recommend this if you like a quirky puzzle game with an incredible funny protagonist. He epitomizes the weakling, his fragile life can abruptly end, but once you finally figure out how to get to the next section, you've beaten the odds by getting Abe out on top. A great rerelease and updated version of an old classic. Try it out if you're curious. It's New 'n' Tasty--you might like it.

I still have the original Abe in my Steam library. I saved all his fellows. So this review is from someone who has played through the original quite a few times. This new instalment? It just failed to work for me, and let me explain why. a) Visuals: Yes, we have HD now, and lots of it. Yet, I can't really put my finger on it, the whole thing looses some of the charm. I don't think it's just a nostalgia factor either, as I fired up the original Abe just to make sure I'm not making it up. Yes, it's similar, yes, it's HD, and yet... something is missing. Perhaps it's the addition of the 2.5D? Or perhaps it's because instead of the gritty pre-rendered cinematics things are now done almost all in-engine? I'll be honest and I'll say that I cannot put my finger on it, suffice it to say that the visual update didn't blow me away... b) Controls: I played through the original Abe using nothing more than a keyboard, so I went into New'n'Tasy with the same expectations... boy, was I wrong. The game isn't made into "tiles" any more, and as such you can more by minor increments. This is incredibly awkward on the keyboard. So I switched to an Xbox pad, and things got a bit better, but not by much. The minor motions are still annoying in some of the puzzles, which clearly weren't designed with them in mind. About the only thing that was more fun in this game than in the original when it comes to the controls was riding an Ellum, but that's a very very small bit of the gameplay. c) Frustration: In the original, aside from ONE puzzle in the original involving swinging stones with spikes (where it would suddenly "clip" and kill Abe despite him being in a seemingly safe location), the game felt fair. This one? I failed to defuse a simple mine dozens of times because of strange timings. I had trouble "rolling" under fast crushers for the exact same reason (a task which became second-nature in the original). So it becomes frustrating, really REALLY frustrating. Not recommended. Get the original on Steam!

Back in the times where I was a kid playing PS1 for hours on Saturday Mornings I really fall in love with Oddworld Abe's Odyssee and Exodus. Those games almost had everything a good game can have: a thrilling story / atmosphere, good game mechanics, identification with the protagonist and in my opinion one of the best - voice controls. And every little piece of those exciting mechanics are perfectly transferred to Oddworld New 'n' Tasty. I was ported right back in the gaming times of the PlayStation 1 for what I thought would never happen! To make my thoughts clear: If you loved the old PlayStation 1 games, the whole style of the Oddworld Universe and the Elum (!) you will be shocked how thrilling this game is and it's worth every damn dollar/euro you spend for it. Hopefully they will make a remake of Exodus too :)

Apart from some graphic issues and clumsy controls/mechanics in places this is an incredible game. I would highly recommend it to anyone that played the original. The addition of a quick save button ensures the majority of players should be able to make it to the end which was a sorely needed feature. The new cut scene videos add a lot of depth to the story and gameworld. They really out did themselves on this one, there are tons of positive things I could point out but you should buy the game and see them for yourselves.